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Martoma cannot use testimony from SAC's Cohen at trial -judge

NEW YORK, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Mathew Martoma, a former SAC Capital Advisors portfolio manager on trial on charges of insider trading, cannot introduce excerpts from a deposition of his former boss, billionaire Steven A. Cohen, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan also rejected Martoma's bid to exclude evidence about his role in SAC's trading in drugmakers Elan Corp and Wyeth, saying it presents questions of facts that jurors should resolve.

Federal prosecutors have charged Martoma with arranging trades in Elan and Wyeth, which is now part of Pfizer Inc, based on confidential information from two doctors involved in a clinical trial of an Alzheimer's drug.

In a deposition in May 2012 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Cohen told investigators he decided to sell Wyeth securities after talking with a former SAC trader who went on to establish his own hedge fund.

Jury selection in Martoma's criminal trial began on Tuesday. Cohen has not been criminally charged.

The case is U.S. v. Martoma, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 12-cr-00973.